Why are fans throwing random objects at pop stars?

At concerts, fans often try to get the artist's attention - but recently, some have been throwing objects on stage where it causes distraction or even injury to the star, and this sparked wider discussions about concert etiquette.

Taylor Swift is the latest victim of this dangerous trend as a video shows the I Can See You singer leaving the stage surrounded by security while fans threw objects such as friendship bracelets down to her, as Swift can be seen ducking them to avoid being hit.

Bebe Rexha made headlines last month when she needed stitches after a fan threw their phone at the pop singer while she was performing on stage in New York on June 18.

Clips of the incident circulated online showing Rexha covering her eye as she dropped to the floor from the hit as people backstage rushed to her aid, and had to cut her performance short to go and get stitches at the hospital.

Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter

In a post to Instagram, the 33-year-old reassured fans that she was doing okay and shared a photo of her bruised eye and bandaged eyebrow with the caption "I'm good," (also a lyrical nod to her hit song with David Guetta).

Nicolas Malvagna, 27, who is accused of throwing the phone was arraigned on June 19 in New York on misdemeanour charges of harassment and assault and pleaded not guilty.

"I was trying to see if I could hit her with the phone at the end of the show because it would be funny," Malvagna said, according to the Manhattan District Attorney's Office.,

Phones are often thrown towards the stage by fans with the hopes that the artist will pick it up and film themselves and return the phone back to the fan- with the likes of Billie Eilish, One Direction, Shawn Mendes and Drake sometimes doing this interaction at their shows.

Though this isn't the first time as musicians often have to dodge objects launched at them when they are performing.

Country-pop singer Kelsea Ballerini had to temporarily stop her show in Idaho after she was hit in the face by an object thrown from the crowd.

Last year, the singer Steve Lacy smashed an iPhone that had been thrown onstage by a fan during his gig in New Orleans.

In 2022, Lady Gaga was hit in the head by a Dr Simi doll a fan had thrown while she sang her Top Gun: Maverick track ‘Hold My Hand’ in the encore, though Gaga was able to continue her performance.

Meanwhile, Harry Styles was left squinting after a fan launched Skittles, hitting him in the eye, at his concert in Los Angeles last November, and also praised for his response another time when he was hit in the groin with what appeared to be a water bottle, mid-performance in Chicago in October 2022.

Objects being thrown isn't the only issue at play here either since in the same week as Rexha's incident, Ava Max was performing in Los Angeles when an audience member rushed the stage and slapped her in the face.

"He slapped me so hard that he scratched the inside of my eye," the singer later wrote.

Over the decades, fans have always been desperate to have some kind of interaction with their favourite artist - for example, The Beatles were pelted with jelly babies back in the day.

So while this isn't a new thing, in recent years the rise of social media had led to a desire from fans for their concert moment to go viral.

Paul Wertheimer, a crowd safety manager believes the increase in this kind of behaviour stems from post-pandemic aggression as we continue to simulate back in life without lockdowns, after being stuck inside for three years when nobody could go to gigs.

“We all said that crowds would be more rambunctious, disorderly, and energetic after people came out of being cooped up,” Wertheimer told The Guardian.

“When crowds get rowdy, people can feel anonymous, and that leads them to do antisocial, dangerous things."

Music fans have also reflected on this point with people criticising concert etiquette post-pandemic, with people sharing their rules on the do's and don'ts when attending gigs.

However, performers also interact with fans in this way too as we have seen Beyoncé throw a pair of sunglasses into the crowd on the second night of her 'Renaissance' World Tour concert in London.

While Harry Styles often splashes water on the crowd before he sings his song 'Kiwi' and DJ Steve Aoki throws a cake at the crowd when playing his song 'Cake Face.'

“There is a long history of artists throwing guitars, bottles, and clothing into the crowd,” Wertheimer said.

“It’s a two-way street: if artists don’t want to be hit by projectiles, they shouldn’t throw projectiles themselves. There’s mutual respect there.”

Although Wertheimer believes "increase staffing" in the crowd can "help subdue antisocial behaviour," Bob Brecht, the CEO of TSE Entertainment notes to The Guardian that mass shootings and stampedes are more of a safety concern.

AstroWorld in the US, Seoul at Halloween in South Korea and, Asake at Brixton Academy in the UK are some of the recent tragedies that have occurred.

"That’s where most of the fatalities have occurred, so that’s where the efforts are being made to set safety standards," he said.

All in all, there is no foolproof way to prevent fans from throwing objects on stage without creating a space big enough between the crowd and the artist to stop this from happening.

"But an artist would never stand for that, because they get a lot of their enthusiasm and excitement from a crowd," Brecht added.

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.